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A GB News commentator claimed she quit acting because white people weren’t auditioned – 13 A-list replies definitely worth casting

Karen Dickinson. Updated December 16th, 2024

Even people who have only a passing acquaintance with Twitter know it’s a great place to make vague but inflammatory statements that can’t be easily proven but will get you lots of clicks and clout.

Reform MP Rupert Lowe is certainly aware of it, as this recent tweet shows…

And he got plenty of attention for his ‘investigation’, including this lengthy post from writer and GB News commentator Charlie Bentley-Astor:

The full text reads:

At 17 years old, I gave up on becoming an actor despite then being in one of the best drama schools in the UK because 85% of the casting calls my agent received stipulated, “Caucasian’s need not apply.”

Not “Black actors wanted” or “Latin actors wanted” but “Caucasian’s need not apply.”

That is to say “All auditions welcome except from white people.”

I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere, even if I could hone my skill to a competitive level. I knew then that the stories of the near future were not going to be about the white working class or ancient Britons or knights and their princesses.

Being an actor is the first job I ever wanted – from 4 years old I did nothing else.

I switched for 10 years to directing. But the tide has risen higher still and I find all grants and opportunities exclusively for “BAME people.”

I am good at what I do. I have won awards and worked at one of the best theatres in the country. I offer insight and poetic depth with my skill. But I am white and say that men are not women and therefore merit does not enter into the calculation.

A heartfelt tale of woe no doubt, although the wider world portrayed in this article is a very different one indeed (to no-one else’s great surprise anywhere, no doubt).

And it might just be that we’re watching the wrong TV shows, but while on-screen diversity has improved (and thank goodness for that) we don’t remember seeing too many casts that are 85% non-white, let alone behind the scenes. Quite the opposite, in fact.

And of all the many comments it prompted, these A-list responses are surely worth auditing.

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